Columns

Virginia’s Capitol enjoyed warmer temperatures this week, while inside the Capitol the Senate of Virginia and the House of Delegates unveiled their respective plans to the Commonwealth’s two-year budget.

I have tremendous respect for the Virginia General Assembly, given that it is the oldest deliberative body in the history of the world, and that I am a native Virginian.
Having said that, it is almost always a disappointment for those who hold a progressive political philosophy. That’s because of its resemblance to the Congress in Washington.

I want to compliment Rick Howell for his well written column in last week’s paper. Of course, I don’t agree with his conclusion about George W. Bush, but the column was indeed a good opinion piece.
Nevertheless, it does have a two factual points that I would like to correct.

The soldiers who stormed the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944, saw some of the most intense fighting of World War II. Among them on D-Day was Sergeant Robert L. Sales of Madison Heights, a member of the Virginia National Guard Company B, 116th Infantry. After coming under fierce attack in the first wave of the invasion, Mr. Sales made his way to the seawall. He was the only man from his landing craft to survive the landing and went on to continue fighting on the front lines.

On Feb-ruary 11, “Crossover,” all Senate bills crossed over to the House of Delegates and vice versa, just in time for a snow storm to blow through Richmond. As temperatures hovered around freezing outside, inside the Capitol the full Senate reviewed many of the most controversial bills of this Session.

Any optimism that winter might be winding down was dashed this week, as Richmond got socked with two days of snow. The inclement weather was sufficient to keep many of the General Assembly Building’s usual inhabitants at home. With very few exceptions though, legislators were in their seats for session every day.

The days of the 20-dollar speeding ticket have gone the way of the 20-cent bottle of soda pop.
If you’re planning on getting caught violating traffic regulations, be prepared to pay a heap of cash to do so.
The thing is, most drivers don’t plan on getting caught. They just do.
And when they do, the options they face are not pretty. As you can see by the accompanying chart, the name of the game is forking over cash.

We celebrated President’s Day on Monday, perhaps our most unappreciated holiday the entire year.
It was originally started as a celebration of George Washington’s birthday on Feb. 22. Now it stands as an opportunity to contemplate the genius of the presidency itself.
Our founders had created something new in the world, a system of democratic succession where the top officer of the central government could not serve for life, as kings did elsewhere.

Being trapped in my house by the Great Snow of 2014 has given me time to ponder some things. In spite of giving this much thought, while shoveling snow, I’m still mystified by a vote the Board of Supervisors took at their Feb. 10 meeting. Maybe I’m mystified because I’m a conservative, rather than a libertarian.